The Wiese Family Selected as the 2024 Founders’ Day Gala Honoree

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With family Jesuit roots that go back more than 70 years, the Wiese family – Kathy Wiese, her husband Dr. Michael Wiese and their children Patrick ’14, Matthew, Brian and Michelle – have been selected as the honorees for the 2024 Founders’ Day Gala. At the event, which will be held on campus on Friday, Oct. 18, the family will be presented with the Simon Le Moyne Award, the highest honor given by Le Moyne.

“For as long as I remember, Le Moyne has held a special place in our hearts given my father’s decades-long connection to the institution,” said Kathy Wiese, speaking for the family. “We are all so honored and humbled to be receiving the Simon Le Moyne Award.”

“The Wiese family is a testament to the power of a Jesuit education,” said Le Moyne President Linda LeMura. “Both professionally and personally, they have collectively accomplished so much to benefit our community. They are deserving of this recognition by the College.”

Beginning with Kathy’s father Don LaCasse ’53, a member of one of Le Moyne’s first classes and a long-time and active alumni supporter of the College along with his wife Anne, HA ’01  an honorary alumna, the family has a long history of involvement with Jesuit and Catholic education that has touched every member of the family.

An overview of their educational and professional lives:

  • Kathy – A graduate of Bishop Ludden High School and the College of the Holy Cross, she retired after serving many years as a major gifts officer at Hamilton College.
  • Mike – A graduate of McQuaid Jesuit High School, the College of the Holy Cross and Georgetown University Medical School, he is the co-partner of Orthopedics East, a local orthopedics practice. He is involved in the Le Moyne’s sports medicine program and serves as a clinical preceptor for the Le Moyne physician’s assistant program.
  • Patrick ’14 – A graduate of Christian Brothers Academy and Le Moyne College, he works as a mathematics teacher and coach at CBA.
  • Matthew – A graduate of Christian Brothers Academy and the College of the Holy Cross, he also served in the Jesuit Volunteer Corp teaching at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Baltimore, MD. He is a pediatric emergency room physician at Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo, NY.
  • Brian – A graduate of Christian Brothers Academy and the College of the Holy Cross, he works at Sedgwick Business Interiors in Ithaca, N.Y.
  • Michelle- A graduate of Christian Brothers Academy (CBA) and Villanova University, she served as assistant women’s soccer coach at Le Moyne. She is a nurse in the intensive care unit at SUNY Upstate Medical University Hospital in Syracuse.

In addition to the strong connection to CBA in DeWitt (a past Founders’ Day honoree) there is also a family connection to Holy Cross School in DeWitt, where Kathy served as a volunteer teacher and Michael volunteered as the athletic director and coach at the school. In addition to their numerous connections to Jesuit education, all members of the family have been involved in a wide array of service and volunteer work. Many have served as lectors and eucharistic ministers and have volunteered at non-profit organizations, including Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the Syracuse SIDS Chapter, the CNY Community Foundation, Helping Hounds, the Loretto Foundation and Abby’s House, a women’s shelter in Worcester, Mass.

One charitable effort of note is the work of Patrick who, while an undergraduate at Le Moyne, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer. A member of the Le Moyne’s baseball team, classmates raised money to help with his medical bills; upon receiving this surprising generosity, he decided that the money would be better spent helping others less fortunate than him going through similar medical hardships and founded the Patrick Wiese Foundation. To date, the foundation has raised more than $400,000. For his cancer battle and subsequent fundraising work, he was selected as the TD Ameritrade Fan’s Choice Award, a national award recognizing a college baseball player whose leadership inspires others. He also received the 2014 Northeast-10 Conference Man of the Year Award and the 2014 Rev. J.J. O’Brien Senior Athlete Achievement Award, the most prestigious honor given to a Le Moyne athlete, and the 2024 Young Alumnus Award.